Russian warships in the Mediterranean have been forced to drive away a Dutch submarine, according to a Russian military spokesperson.

Destroyers, who were travelling in convoy with the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier on the way to Syria, detected the Walrus-class submarine which was apparently shadowing the Russians.

Two ships then tracked the Dutch craft using anti-Submarine helicopters for more than an hour, before forcing it to leave.

Maj Gen Igor Konashenkov described the attempt to follow the Russian craft as “clumsy”, but did not elaborate on how exactly the Russian Destroyers persuaded the Dutch vessel to leave the area.

However Konashenkov did say that two NATO submarines had previously been spotted, also apparently tailing the Russian convoy. He said that at least one of these vessels was a US Virginia-class nuclear submarine.

A NATO official confirmed that its navies had indeed been “monitoring” the Russian fleet, in a “measured and responsible way, as is customary”.

The Dutch navy declined to comment, saying in a tweet that they do not comment on submarine operations.